Category: Jets Training Camp

Jets injury report: Le’Veon Bell leaves practice but says his hamstrings are fine

The Jets injuries keep piling up as the 2020 season draws closer.

The Jets can’t catch a break with receiver injuries.

Undrafted free agent Lawrence Cager, who looked great in practice filling in for the injured Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims, will have an MRI on the knee he hurt in Tuesday’s practice. His knee swelled up overnight, according to Adam Gase.

“The swelling alarmed us where we have to go back and look at it,” said Gase, who offered no timetable on his return.

That leaves the Jets with only a few healthy receivers – Jamison Crowder, Chris Hogan, Braxton Berrios and Jeff Smith. It’s more than likely the Jets will look to add another receiver during camp.

Le’Veon Bell also left Wednesday’s scrimmage with hamstring “tightness” for precautionary reasons, Gase said, but Bell offered a differing opinion with a series of tweets.

Right guard Greg Van Roten didn’t finish practice, either, with an oblique injury. Outside linebacker Tarell Basham will miss a couple of weeks with his ankle injury. Wide receiver Breshad Perriman is expected to return from his knee injury Saturday, while Denzel Mims did some light conditioning on the sidelines while he rehabs his hamstring.

CB Brian Poole (dehydration), CB Pierre Desir (hamstring) LB James Burgess (back), Corbin Kaufusi (hamstring), RB Josh Adams (hamstring), S Mathias Farley (hamstring), OL Connor McDermott (knee), DL John Franklin Myers (groin) and DE Jabari Zuniga (quad) are all still not practicing.

Jets DB coach jokingly calls cornerback room ‘a bunch of outcasts’

New York Jets DBs coach Dennard Wilson has jokingly referred to his cornerbacks as ‘outcasts,” but it’s a rallying cry for an underdog unit.

There aren’t a lot of well-known names in the Jets cornerback room, but that’s what the unit prides itself on. In fact, New York’s defensive backs coach, Dennard Wilson, jokingly refers to his group as “a bunch of outcasts,” he said earlier this week.

Even if Wilson is technically joking or using that as a motivational tool, his message rings true. Rather than going down the path of paying a premium for a No. 1 cornerback, which has significantly hindered New York in the past, Joe Douglas elected to put together a group of rotational cornerbacks who provide depth for Gang Green.

New York’s cornerback room starts with Pierre Desir, who is already on his fifth team and was a cap casualty after flaming out in Indianapolis. Quincy Wilson, who had become an afterthought with the Colts, was just thrilled to be given an opportunity to prove himself. Like Desir and Wilson, Nate Hairston is another cornerback who fell down Indianapolis’ depth chart. He found himself shipped away for a Day 3 pick last year.

As for Brian Poole, his free agent market never took off, even after he was one of the best nickel corners in the NFL in 2019. Players like Bless Austin and Bryce Hall dealt with lower-body injuries during their senior seasons of collegiate play and subsequently were Day 3 picks.

Then there’s Arthur Maulet. He bounced around between Indianapolis and New Orleans before going back and forth between New York’s active roster and practice squad.

These aren’t names that jump off the page, but they’re certainly ones that embody the culture that Wilson has tried to bring into the cornerback room. These are players that other teams have given up, but the Jets are hoping a group with a collective chip on its shoulder can improve what was a weak position in 2019. Last year, a makeshift unit had to make up for the failures of Trumaine Johnson and Darryl Roberts.

Even without a lockdown No. 1 cornerback, New York is entering another season in Gregg Williams’ system, one that adapts to the strengths of its players. While Douglas may have constructed a positional group of relative no-names, they’re each coming in with something to prove.

Jets injury report: Breshad Perriman sits out practice with knee injury

Breshad Perriman was held out of Sunday’s practice due to a knee injury.

Add Breshad Perriman to the list of injured Jets wide receivers.

Perriman sat out of Sunday’s practice due to a knee injury. His knee swelled up a bit on Saturday, but the injury is not considered serious and the expectation is that he’ll be back on Monday.

RT Chuma Edoga didn’t finish practice, as he suffered a calf injury. Edoga is in a battle at right tackle with George Fant. Meanwhile, LB Patrick Onwuasor had tests done on his knee that revealed no torn ligaments. He’ll be out for an extended period of time.

WR Denzel Mims (hamstring), CB Brian Poole (dehydration), CB Pierre Desir (hamstring) LB James Burgess (back), Corbin Kaufusi (hamstring), RB Josh Adams (hamstring), S Mathias Farley (hamstring), OL Connor McDermott (knee), DL John Franklin Myers (groin) and DE Jabari Zuniga (quad) were all held out of practice once again. Poole had an extreme reaction to dehydration due to an undisclosed condition.

LB Avery Williamson said he felt good in his return to practice after being out for about a year with a torn ACL.

Jets had 10 false positive COVID-19 tests after irregularities from New Jersey lab

The Jets had 10 false positive COVID-19 tests after there were irregularities from a lab in New Jersey.

The New York Jets were one of several NFL teams affected by irregularities from Saturday’s COVID-19 test results from a lab in New Jersey.

Adam Gase told the media on Sunday that the Jets had 10 false-positive COVID-19 tests this weekend. Since the test results initially came back positive, the Jets were forced to cancel Saturday night’s walkthrough. Once the Jets found out their test results were false-positives, they proceeded with Sunday’s practice.

“It’s such an unknown. Everything is day-to-day right now,” Gase said Sunday, generally speaking. “You have to be able to adjust.”

New York wasn’t the only team that came back with false-positives. The Chicago Bears had nine such tests, while the Minnesota Vikings had 12 false-positive tests. The Pittsburgh Steelers had six as well. The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns were also impacted.

Fortunately for the Jets, they were given to green light to practice on Sunday. With a ramped up training camp and no preseason games in 2020, every practice is meaningful. Other teams, such as the Browns, were forced to cancel practice entirely on Sunday and had to go virtual.

Punches thrown by Jordan Jenkins during Jets’ Sunday morning practice brawl

Tensions boiled over at Jets practice on Sunday morning.

Tensions boiled over at Jets practice on Sunday morning.

According to multiple reports, practice first got heated when OL Alex Lewis and LB Neville Hewitt went after each other verbally. Things got physical on the next play when LB Jordan Jenkins threw a few punches at Lewis, who was blocking downfield. Jenkins remained irate on the sideline and went after OL Greg Van Roten, who tried to break up the initial skirmish with Lewis. Jenkins and Van Roten had to be separated by coaches.

When the fighting died down, Sam Darnold, Le’Veon Bell and Marcus Maye all made attempts to cool Jenkins off. The starting offense and defense soon returned to the field, with Jenkins lining up with Van Roten in the trenches. Once again, words and shoves were exchanged, but nothing more this time.

A few touchdown throws later, a rather chippy practice came to an end.

Jets S Ashtyn Davis soaking everything up like a ‘sponge’

Jets DB coach Dennard Wilson has been impressed so far with rookie safety Ashtyn Davis’ ability to soak in information so far.

Ashtyn Davis may be a rookie, but any learning curve facing the Jets safety appears to be minimal based on the reviews he’s gotten from his coaches.

Davis has impressed with his play in his first NFL training camp, but what has really turned heads thus far is his eagerness to learn. Between each play, Davis is usually seen holding court with New York’s defensive backs coach, Dennard Wilson, according to The Athletic’s Connor Hughes.

“This young man is a sponge,” Wilson told reporters Saturday. “He soaks up everything.

“I love coaching this young man,” Wilson added.

Without offseason activities, rookie minicamp, a regular training camp and preseason games, rookies like Davis should be at a disadvantage. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case for the Jets’ third-round pick out of Cal, who has taken every opportunity to make his presence felt during Gang Green’s limited training camp.

When the Jets originally drafted Davis, it was a curious pick at the time. The Jets had been publically stating their intentions to keep Jamal Adams, but Marcus Maye was entering a contract year. Safety wasn’t an immediate need, but the thought was that the Jets were looking at Davis as Maye’s potential successor. 

That changed rather quickly when Adams forced his way out of the organization. Now, Davis will be thrown into the fire of Gang Green’s versatile safety rotation, which includes himself, Maye and Bradley McDougald.

Nothing has ever been handed to Davis. The Cal product was originally a walk-on, eventually earning a scholarship and paving out a path to the NFL. He continues to carry that same chip on his shoulder that got him drafted, doing everything he can to learn on the fly by leaning on coaches like Wilson.

“That’s become part of my identity,” Davis told reporters last week. “I work the same way that I did when I was a walk-on. I keep that same mentality and hopefully, it’ll take me places.”

Jets injury report: Patrick Onwuasor among 3 new injuries

Patrick Onwuasor, Josh Adams and John Franklin Myers all suffered new injuries for the Jets.

The New York Jets announced three new injuries on Saturday.

Patrick Onwuasor (knee), Josh Adams (hamstring) and John Franklin Myers (groin) were all forced to leave practice early. Onwuasor hurt himself chasing down TE Ross Travis. He was able to walk off the field under his own power.

Denzel Mims (hamstring), Pierre Desir (hamstring), Brian Poole (dehydration), James Burgess (back) and Jabari Zuniga (quad) were all held out of practice again. The Jets are hoping Mims can start individual drills in the coming days. Meanwhile, the Jets are not rushing Poole back, as he is still dealing with dehydration issues. He had a similar problem last summer as well.

Avery Williamson (knee), Ryan Griffin (ankle) and Daniel Brown (NFI list) were all activated and participated in individual drills for the first time this training camp.

Jets activate Avery Williamson, Ryan Griffin, Daniel Brown

The Jets have placed Avery Williamson, Ryan Griffin and Daniel Brown back on the active roster.

The New York Jets have three injured players back on the active roster and officially practicing.

The team announced Saturday that Avery Williamson (knee/PUP), Ryan Griffin (ankle/PUP) and Daniel Brown (NFI) have all been activated. Joe Flacco is the only Jet left on the PUP list.

Williamson is coming back from a torn ACL that he suffered last preseason. His value on the team increased this offseason with C.J. Mosley opting out due to COVID-19 concerns. Before Williamson’s ACL injury, he was coming off one of the best seasons of his career, recording 120 total tackles, six pass breakups, three sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception.

Griffin was the Jets’ best tight end last season. He was a late offseason signing last year but proved to be one of Sam Darnold’s favorite targets. Griffin had 320 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 13 games before going down with an ankle injury in Week 14. The Jets rewarded Griffin with a three-year contract extension worth $10.8 million.

As for Brown, he was primarily a backup tight end in 2019. He started in five of 16 games and had seven catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. The Jets re-signed Brown to a one-year deal this offseason.

In other Jets news, they re-signed safety Anthony Cioffi and released tight end Connor Davis.

Report: Free agent WR Donte Moncrief to work out for Jets

According to reports, free-agent wide receiver Donte Moncrief will try out for the Jets later this week if he passes COVID-19 protocol.

It looks like the Jets are in the market for another wide receiver.

Less than a week after signing Chris Hogan to address its lack of depth at the position, New York will put free agent wide receiver Donte Moncrief through COVID-19 protocol with the hope of working him out, according to the Daily News’ Manish Mehta. If Moncrief passes the protocols, he will have his tryout.

Moncrief, 27, has bounced around the NFL since putting together an impressive 2018 season (48 receptions, 668 yards, three touchdowns) with the Jaguars. He signed a two-year deal with the Steelers in free agency last offseason but lasted only five games in Pittsburgh before being released in November. Moncrief caught on with the Panthers to end 2019, but did not catch a single pass in three games.

Prior to 2018, Moncrief spent four years with the Colts after they drafted him in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He totaled 152 receptions, 1,875 yards and 18 touchdowns in Indianapolis, his best season coming in 2015 (64 receptions, 733 yards six touchdowns).

With Denzel Mims sidelined due to an ankle injury and Vyncint Smith sidelined 5-8 weeks after undergoing core surgery, the Jets are without two of their top four wide receivers early in training camp. In all likelihood, Smith will not be ready to go for the beginning of the regular season, while there is currently no definitive timetable for Mims’ return. Signing Hogan somewhat bolstered the Jets’ wide receiver depth chart, but New York needs more than just one veteran and a bunch of unproven free agent wideouts to fill out the group.

Jets fans might remember Moncrief as the Jaguars receiver who torched Trumaine Johnson for five catches, 109 yards and a touchdown just two years ago. If all goes well in his tryout, he could be burning opposing corners while donning green and white in 2020.

Jets WR Vyncint Smith out 5-8 weeks with core muscle injury

Vyncint Smith will be out for the next 5-8 weeks with a core muscle injury.

The New York Jets will be without one of their key wide receivers for the next month.

According to multiple reports, Vyncint Smith will miss 5-8 weeks with a core muscle injury. His muscle essentially ripped away from the bone, per The Athletic’s Connor Hughes. Smith will have surgery on Tuesday.

Smith’s injury is a significant blow to the Jets’ receiving corps. He was expected to see a lot of opportunities this season with the Jets being so thin at the position. In 2019, Smith recorded 17 catches for 225 yards in 13 games. He also had 52 rushing yards to go along with a touchdown on the ground.

The Jets signed Chris Hogan to a deal on Sunday, so he’ll likely take Smith’s spot on the depth chart for the time being. New York could potentially look to sign another veteran wide receiver to bring in some more experience at the position.

As for the rest of the Jets’ injuries, James Burgess tweaked his back in individual drills. Blake Cashman got first-team reps. Denzel Mims (hamstring), Pierre Desir (hamstring), Brian Poole (dehydration), Jabari Zuniga (quad), Cameron Clark (shoulder) and Bronson Kaufusi (hamstring) all have yet to practice for Gang Green.